UPSB v4
Serious Discussion / What is reality?
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Date: Wed, Nov 14 2012 20:51:56
What is reality? Some may argue that it is our perceived surrounding; however, how do we know that our perception is a true account of the world? The fact that our perception is limited by our five senses, means that we are unable to see the world in it's true form. Our five senses is not enough to experience reality as it alludes us from what it actually is, for instance there are many animals that experience the world completely different from us. Take bats for instance, and I quote (from 50 Philosophy Ideas [SIZE="1"]you really need to know[/SIZE] by Ben Dupre):
[SIZE="2"][COLOR="silver"]Bats navigate and locate insects in complete darkness by a system of sonar, or echolocation, by emitting high-frequency squeaks and detecting their reflections as they bounce back from surrounding objects. This form of perception is completely unlike any sense that we possess, so it is reasonable to suppose that it is subjectively completely unlike anything we are able to experience. In effect, there are experiences that we as humans could never experience, even in principle; there are facts about experience whose exact nature is quite beyond our comprehension. [/COLOR][/SIZE]The key point to keep in mind, is not how it is for us to behave like a bat, but what is it like for a bat to be a bat. It would appear that, bats experience the world in an entirely differently way from humans. This illustrates that there are more ways to experience the world than our five senses. So, it would seem that, empirical evidence is not enough for us to grasp upon what reality actually is. Unless we are able to experience the world in more ways than our five senses we are ignorant to what reality is and can never know the true form of our world. This - as an atheist I would rather not get into this, however it is an important point to consider - shows that something like God, is beyond our experience. We can never experience what God actually is because he/she/it is beyond our mind, beyond our capabilities. If God is what people say he/she/it is, omnipotent, omniscience etc, then God is the only one who can experience the true quintessential nature of the world. For this reason, nothing can be greater than God. The compressed idea is that our perception of reality is only a fraction of what it truly is. -
Date: Wed, Nov 14 2012 21:34:19
nothing we perceive is the truth. We are always unable to see truth. The best example is Jönsen's experiment with electrons: As soon as we try to see something we mess with the set-up. So whenever we look at any experiment we influence it. However as soon as we look away the processes can proceed to run as they normally do. That's why physics doesn't postulate truth, it postulates the possible truth of nature.
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Date: Wed, Nov 14 2012 22:13:42
[video=youtube;w2xzIgdD_XA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2xzIgdD_XA[/video] Pretty sure you'd love Rogan videos, Supergirl.
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Date: Thu, Nov 15 2012 00:52:17
ChainBreak wrote: nothing we perceive is the truth. We are always unable to see truth. The best example is Jönsen's experiment with electrons: As soon as we try to see something we mess with the set-up. So whenever we look at any experiment we influence it. However as soon as we look away the processes can proceed to run as they normally do. That's why physics doesn't postulate truth, it postulates the possible truth of nature.
What if truth were a woman? Maybe truth will reveal itself to those noble in heart, not a bunch of nerds in lab coats. -
Date: Thu, Nov 15 2012 02:59:52
reality: the supreme mind fuck. there is no way you or i could understand in this form. some interpretations are closer than others but i dont think that there is a way to explain it simply. do some salvia. it may help you in understanding why you cant understand.
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Date: Fri, Nov 16 2012 16:19:41
It is actually quite possible for a human to learn echo location and thus experience the world in the way a bat would.